Follow the Leders: St. Louis

This was Ezra's first full day of church at 4 weeks old. Photo quality isn't so hot do to it being taken with my phone :) And yes, he was passed out with his tongue sticking out. Or that could be a poopy face too.

So where did the name Ezra pop out of? Many of you asked Carl and I what we would be naming our baby when he arrived and of course our answer was, "No idea, we really like the names Damien or Jayden, but we'll need to see him when he arrives."

And he arrived.

And we had no clue.

Because he was neither the Damien (which I wanted so badly) or the Jayden we thought he may be.

So about 4 or 5 hours after he was born (and probably 4 or 5 nurses later who asked us what his name was too), I was sitting in the L&D room looking at my brand new baby with Carl crashing on the not-so comfy recliner next to me, and I stared long and hard into my little boy's eyes and said,

"Are you a Damien or Jayden?"

Ezra, *wrinkle nose, furrowing of the brows, etc*

"Ok, I'm not sure what to call you, boy"

...

*inspiration hits me*

"Ezra? Could you be an Ezra?"

Ezra, *squeaky sound*

Then Carl wakes up and I ask him, "Hon, what do you think of the name Ezra?"

Carl, "You are an inspired woman!"

So we decided that Ezra Wallace Leder sounded and felt perfect for our first son. I love that we felt inspired to name him that. Back in the day, I had made a list of baby boy names that I liked and Ezra was on there, but when we found out we were having a son, Ezra Wallace didn't sound good to me at the time. I LOVE the name Damien and hope to have little Damien running around with his older brother Ezra someday, but I'm so glad we named this boy Ezra.

More icky phone-quality photos. Notice that this is a pet peeve for me? At least the photo subject is a cutie even through the fuzzy quality!

Sorry if I scared anyone in my last post about the labor. It was not my intention, just me speaking my true feelings about giving birth... which was pain. haha! Sometimes I get this idea from other women that giving birth with an epidural is for pansies and au natural is the high way because it proves how strong you are. I'd just like share more opinion (this is my blog, isn't it?!) that if you are a woman and ever feel this way, please, just know that carrying a child for 40 weeks is more natural than anything! And also, please know that if you do give birth without medication, awesome! Either way, the end product is what matters most - we are not defined by what kind of labor we had, whether medicated, unmedicated, or c-section :)

Well, I'm sitting on my bum with a jug of Welch's Strawberry Breeze juice that I'm drinking out of (no cup, just the jug. Mama, you'd shake your finger at me because you did teach me better than this :). The end of the summer is coming about and Carl and I are packing and selling things like mad! We're leaving KS on Sep 1 and heading to Dallas, TX for 2 months, then back to UT for awhile... lot's of moving! However, I must say though, I am SO excited to see all of our family next week! We'll be in CA August 25-27 and then OR Aug 27-30. The granddaddies finally get to meet this boy and so do several aunts! Yes, I am very excited indeed :) Also, on Sunday, Aug 29, we will have his baby blessing (1000 Country Club Rd, Woodburn, OR - Sacrament begins at 1:00 PM), so please, come if you can!

Ezra had his 1-month birthday last week and we celebrated by packing up all the newborn clothes. He is growing so fast. We started cloth diapering last week too. So far, it's been great though there is a bit of a learning curve to overcome because I can't tell when his diaper is wet now and neither can he, so we've gone 6 hours without a change before and then we get a leak. Lot's of onesies in the wash :) Other than that, cloth diapering isn't so bad! Just about as easy as a disposable!

Well, enough of this brain dump. Here's a glimpse of our last-minute, less-than-24-hour trip to St. Louis on 8/8-9!